Well we get to wait at least another week for answers, since we have to find out a) what Parson's brilliant idea is b) how RVC reacts to the Temple collapsing and maybe c) what's happening back at GK while all this is going on, they need to get Sizemore and Ace in to set up the tunnel for some action soon enough, like if Parson orders that.

I've checked the archives, and while Parson does complain about all the stairs, I don't see anyplace where he would necessarily complain that you had to take a break every now and then to switch stairwells. And http://archives.erfworld.com/Book%202/103 and on show more corridor walking than would be expected if he was mostly going up and down stairs. But we don't know he's in the tower for any of that, I don't know where the armory is exactly.

I'm saying that people are selected to reject mental constructs, philosophical or not, which lead to the conclusion that there is no point in life.

Sorry for the late response, yesterday was... busy. Anyway.

Evolution hasn't even been able to get rid of depressive disorder, ADHD, OCD and addiction, despite the fact that the first two are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain and both the first and the last one have been found to have genetic markers that significantly increase their chances to show up. Heck, schizophrenia has genetic factors. And these are large, obvious flaws.
By comparison, fine-tuning our ability for abstract thought... That's like trying to maximize fuel efficiency when there's still a decent chance that the fuel tank explodes before it goes empty.

If the selective pressure wasn't big enough to weed out those glaringly obvious flaws, I can't see how it could have fine-tuned a much smaller but far more complex might-be issue.

And at the very least, I don't think that philosophy predates stone tools (though depressive disorder and other outright chemical imbalances might), which makes it about three and a half million years old at most.

Historically, Rooks were chariots that were capable of carrying multiple units into battle. This is where "Castling" came from, since it is a simulation of a king riding off into battle.
Rooks should be a mounted unit with a transport capacity greater than 0. Like a megalogwiff, or an army-duck. But preferably one with a decent charge bonus.

At first I was in disagreement with Rooks being mere heavies, since not all heavies are mounts. Then I recalled Stanley castling with Zhoppa to reach the throne room http://archives.erfworld.com/Book%202/200 .

Evolution hasn't even been able to get rid of depressive disorder, ADHD, OCD and addiction, despite the fact that the first two are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain and both the first and the last one have been found to have genetic markers that significantly increase their chances to show up. Heck, schizophrenia has genetic factors. And these are large, obvious flaws.

Yes, they are obvious flaws. But they are also minority traits, due to the selective pressure against them.

Lord Dominator wrote:

By comparison, fine-tuning our ability for abstract thought... That's like trying to maximize fuel efficiency when there's still a decent chance that the fuel tank explodes before it goes empty.

Perhaps, perhaps not. When normal people think something that ends in a conclusion that makes them feel a certain way about life, if that feeling is "it is pointless to go on, I might as well give up and die", they tend to reject it. That's quite as much a neurochemical reflex as anything else.

Lord Dominator wrote:

If the selective pressure wasn't big enough to weed out those glaringly obvious flaws, I can't see how it could have fine-tuned a much smaller but far more complex might-be issue.

You'll be surprised, I think, what natural selection considered "glaringly obvious flaws" compared to what civilized society does. That difference is largely the point of civilization, but it's quite a big difference.

Lord Dominator wrote:

And at the very least, I don't think that philosophy predates stone tools (though depressive disorder and other outright chemical imbalances might), which makes it about three and a half million years old at most.

That depends a bit on your definition of "philosophy". But humans have had conceptual language and abstract thought, and thus philosophy, since the neolithic, which is more recent but still in the period before civilization.

As I've said before, the aversion for mental switches that result in a feeling of helplessness is older.

The problem is that you keep on falling back on civilized standards of what impairs people's ability to live comfortably in modern society. But natural selection does not care about your civilized standards. It never has, and it really never will. That's why humans desire civilization.

"Or maybe Croakamancers are all just selfish idiots who are destined to doom their sides ;P"

The true power of Croakamancy has never been revealed. All the Croakamancers obsess over using their magic to uncroak slain units, but so far, none of them have ever explored the awesome power to command frogs. Or fwogs, I suppose.

Well it's not often they'd need the power of a biblical plague. In fact, now I think of it, Frogs are probably OP.

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